Meet Emi Murata Ferguson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emi Murata Ferguson.

Emi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My dance journey started when my mother enrolled me into a tap and ballet combo class – because let’s be real, what’s cuter than a 2.5-year-old trying to do battements across the floor? I did the whole tutus and glitter thing until it truly hit me in 6th grade that this was no longer just a fun thing I do to hang out with friends. This was something I wanted to spend my afternoon’s training for rather than playing Super Smash Brothers.

Fast forward several years of training at different dream schools in beautiful cities, and I began to doubt. I began to doubt my abilities and doubt in the practicality of pursuing a professional career in dance. Upon graduation, I ended up at the University of Georgia to begin my BFA in dance. At least if I went there, I could pursue a backup degree that could grant me the feeling of having succeeded at something, if not dance right?

Here I had many amazing experiences I truly feel privileged for. I discovered the power of fusing aerial arts and contemporary dance through CORE Concert Contemporary and Aerial Dance Company. I foxtrotted with Frank Sinatra and danced bachata with Prince Royce with the help of UGA’s Ballroom Performance Group. I had the opportunity to perform in works choreographed by Joanna Mendl Shaw, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Luis Piedra, Urban Bush Women, and Alexandre Munz, and toured aerial performances at various events including the World Dance Alliance Conference in Vancouver, B.C.

But even with all of those incredible opportunities, that constant whisper of doubt kept amplifying more and more. It chased me after I accepted my diploma, and introduced fear as a friend.

With fear in tow, I still clung on to my vision of becoming an artist in Atlanta. I worked with truly remarkable, endlessly kind, and unbelievably intelligent artists. I found a family with my students and coworkers at a non-profit studio called Dancefx Atlanta and found a purpose to silence doubt and fear when they asked me to help lead the studio as Assistant Director not long after joining.

Even with this position where I felt like I could affect change in the education and careers of my students, I felt like I had paused my professional career to go behind the scenes, and doubt and fear crept back in. They whispered that I was a failure, that no one would acknowledge my successes, and that my BFA in the arts was nothing but a fun joke. In an instant what I thought was a wall of strength I’d built came crumbling down to reveal it was nothing but disintegrating ear plugs keeping doubt and fear out. My relationships with friends and family suffered, and I had to stare at my problems square in the face.

Flashback to the tail end of college, I was introduced to a new style of dance called Brazilian Zouk. This dance and the people associated with it made me feel at home. I fell in love immediately. It felt like it had combined two of my very segregated dance worlds together: contemporary and partner dance. Back in the contemporary world, I would be labeled the ballroom dancer, and in the ballroom world, I was a contemporary dancer. But in Zouk, I was a Zouker. A Zoukero. But with graduation, a wedding, buying a house, and working 15 million jobs to pay the bills, it was difficult to dive into Zouk as I wanted.

At the lowest point in my life where I set myself aside and was working for my students, performing in 3 different companies, and trying to have time for my friends and family, I remembered how Zouk treated me. I felt the need to be spread in five different directions to feel successful and valued, but in Zouk, I just had to dance. I decided it was time to challenge fear and do what I was terrified the most of. Losing my labels. Losing the labels that made me feel important; losing the labels I fought so hard for. No more “Assistant Director”, “Educator”, or “Professional Dancer.” I stared at fear, chose myself, and walked away from 2 companies and my life at the studio. I ended up working odd jobs here and there and spent some humbling months at Starbucks until one day, change happened.

I found full-time work with a company, who even though they still have no idea what I do (“so when is your next uh, recital?”) have given me everything I need to feel valued, respected, and most importantly given me the stability and time to continue a professional artist career. I am entering my 4th season performing and working with Atlanta Dance Collective, I teach private lessons out of a modest studio in my home, and I will be debuting as a teacher and performer at a Zouk conference held in Chicago this summer.

Every day, I still work to redefine how I see myself, my work, and my progress. But this is my process and as I continue to teach, perform, and create, I am learning to make this path my own, and throw away the labels.

My new name tag will say: “HELLO my name is: **only mine to decide.** “

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not. As you may have already read, I had to fight every step of the way. I struggled to try to feel validated and important in a field that constantly felt like an uphill battle and then struggled when I allowed that bitterness to block me from my work.

The hardest thing to overcome is realizing that it’s ok that your hopes and dreams from when you were 12 years old are no longer the dreams you hope for now. That glass may have shattered, but your goals have evolved as you have matured, and comparing yourself to other people’s success keeps us from developing the new improved version of you that is here today.

At 26, I’m still figuring it out but I tell myself on rainy days that my education, my personal path, and how I got here can’t be compared, and no one else could have gotten here the way that I did.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
At this moment, I am a freelance instructor and performer. I am going on my 4th season with Atlanta Dance Collective, and instead of being in one choreographer’s company, all of us members are artists that work collectively and own the stage together.

As an instructor, I teach just about everything. My favorite at the moment is teaching wedding lessons. Sometimes it feels like I am leading marriage counseling rather than teaching them how to do an inside turn, but every couple is different and there is nothing more fulfilling than helping a couple find their voice together.

My students tell me that I teach with spunk. I work to make sure that everyone feels comfortable enough to try something new and be okay with failing. I give credit where credit is due, and give feedback where needed.

I strive to create an environment where brand new beginners feel at home even amongst seasoned dancers. No matter what age you start, what style of dance you call yours, everyone has something important to say and share.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have had great experiences and traumatic experiences with many teachers and artists along the way, but I still consider them all mentors because of their role in my process to becoming who I will be in the future.

But just to name a few shoutouts, Sherri Davis is the director of my studio growing up, and she gave me the tools and inspiration to continue my training and education to the professional level.

My peers who overcame what could have easily been endgamers to their careers inspired me to brush off the dirt and get back in the game.

My husband that built a studio in our living room and donned ballet shoes to take a pas de deux class with me.

Last but not least, the biggest cheerleader above all is my mom. She drove me to many, many classes. She shuttled me from school to teach, back to school for band practice, and then back to dance, and believed in me when I couldn’t. She has faith in me that is endless. If I told her tomorrow that I was going to take up basket weaving, she would tell me that she already knew how great I would be. Thanks Mom for teaching me that I am strong enough to do anything, I couldn’t have done it without you cheering me on!

Contact Info:

• Email: emimurata92@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Lizzie Baker Photography, Hannah C. Stokes Photography, Blane Marable Photography, Melvin Pacheco Photography

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